Pre Cruise Hotel 2011

I’m rather delinquent on posting this but Rose Tours announced not too long ago that they negotiated a rate of $189 at the Intercontinental Hotel for the night of December 1st. You can check out more information about the cruise special rate here.

InterContinental Hotel

Personally I don’t think that’s a very good rate. Last year I stayed at the Holiday Inn, which was a great location near the port and a lot cheaper. Plus a lot of fans were there and I think there is something to be said for staying where a lot of other fans are staying, made me feel safer. Another large group of people stayed at the Marriott Biscayne Bay, since that is where Rose Tours negotiated the rate last time. However without a negotiated rate, that particular Marriott will be a bit more pricy this year at $229 a night. I enjoyed staying at the Holiday Inn and I’d recommend it for anyone looking for a cheap, but nice hotel near the port.

For some of you first time cruisers, you be wondering why you want to get a hotel at all and not fly in the morning of the cruise. Yes, you can fly in the morning of the cruise if you wish. I’ve done it before with no problems, but for this particular cruise I did not want to take any chances with weather delays or missing a plane for whatever reason. It will be winter in the US so you never know if a storm might hit. My mom took a cruise a few weeks ago and her flight got cancelled due to a freak fire accident at Miami airport. So you just never know what might come up, so I would recommend arriving the night before to be on the safe side. Plus the Backstreet Boys have hinted that they may do something the night before in Miami, in which case you would definitely need a place to stay that night.

I was debating whether or not I should create a nice spreadsheet for you all with all the hotel options, but there are over 200 hotels near the Port of Miami so I decided I should probably not waste my efforts. Plus some of you may not want to stay in Miami and some of you may be looking at hostels. So instead I’ll just give a high level overview on my top hotel choices. I’ve done some research and found that hotels range from $59/night-$1,733/night near the port. Those prices range from a random motel to the Ritz. I would say a good rate would be between $120-$150, to make sure you don’t end up in a complete dump. Based on what fans are saying in the fanclub, the majority of people seem to be staying at the Holiday Inn this year. The current rate for the Holiday Inn Port of Miami is $136/night so its definitely a great deal for what you get. I would also recommend splitting the hotel with multiple people to cut costs. That is what I did last year, and it turned out not only to save me money, but I met 3 wonderful girls that I continue to talk to on a daily basis.

As for me, I plan on staying at the Courtyard Miami Downtown with several other ladies I met last year. I want to stay at a Marriott because I have rewards points to use towards the room, which will cut costs, and it looks like a decent hotel near the port. We just need to get our act together and book the room soon!